FALLING TIME

Calculate the viscosity factor of various liquids

Suitable For

Grade 5

Difficulty

1

Time Required

<12 Hours

Supervision

Advised

What’s it about?

All fluids, liquids and gases, show signs of ‘viscosity’ to some degree. Viscosity may be thought of as the friction within a fluid, similar to the friction between two solids that resists the motion of one over the other. Friction makes it possible for an object to accelerate relative to another object, such as the friction between the wheels of a car on a highway.

Measure the viscosity of various liquids by calculating the average time a round solid object takes to fall through the liquid to the bottom of a bottle in the following science experiment:

Topics covered

Viscosity, Friction

What will I need?

GLASS BOTTLES

SMALL BALL BEARING

STOP WATCH

COOKING OIL

BABY OIL

GOLDEN SYRUP

MAGIC MARKER

Procedure (Method)

Unfortunately, this section is only available in the e-book version of the project.

How does it work?

Unfortunately, this section is only available in the e-book version of the project.

‘Viscosity’ is the term used to describe the ability of a liquid to flow, in other words, the level of internal friction within a liquid affecting its rate of flow. The higher the viscosity factor of a fluid, the more resistance it will have against a solid tying to move through it. In this science experiment, the golden syrup has the highest viscosity and the ball bearing takes the longest time to fall to the bottom of the bottle, whereas the baby oil has the lowest viscosity and will fall to the bottom of the bottle a lot quicker.

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This particular science project can be found in any of the following Experiland e-books:

A project introduction and background, complete listing of required materials, step-by-step instructions on how to carry out the project, why it works, learn more section, as well as a science glossary with all the relevant terms make up each of the all-inclusive science project worksheets in our e-books!